Bushes, WALK & Coilover combos?

[JC88]

Just had my annual service and the guys pointed a few things to keep my eye on....some which have "unfortunately" led me to look towards spending even more money on my ED30 A couple of things they pointed out were the front lower suspension arm rear console bushes were slightly perished, as well as both rear coil springs being corroded at the bottom which is supposedly a common thing :/. Basically I've been thinking about investing in a set of coilovers and poly bushes/WALK. I'm a bit of a noob when it comes to poly bushes etc and I'm totally lost with what I should be looking at... I'm overall looking to achieve a nice drop in ride height but not have a seriously stiff ride which I ended up having in my last car due to solid suspension which seemed to realign my spine if i went over a pothole! Can anyone provide any experience with different coilovers, poly bushes or the WALK kit at all? Any feedback would be really appreciated 

[xjay1337]

Buy some coilovers and Superpro bushes.. apparently Superpro do a WALK kit as well as the Powerflex bushes are apparently bad (I don't know only on what I've read...).

Anything you do to improve handling will reduce the ride. It's IMPOSSIBLE to have a both. That being said in my opinion any decent set of coilovers should give you what you want along with full front wishbone and uprated ball joint powerflex/super pro kit. And anti roll bars.

[N8KOW]

Full Polybush Kit, H&R ARBs and KW Coilovers, hopefully how my eddy will be looking next year 

[JC88]

Really appreciate the advice guys. Sorry to sound stupid or anything but is there much separating any brand of poly bushes at all? From what I've read the anti lift kit basically provides beneficial caster angle and a degree of camber when turning to improve handling etc...is it necessary to consider which anti lift kit to go with depending on the type of bushes? Would it also just be a case of buying a kit to replace all the bushes front and rear etc or are they all sold separately? I've been trying to swot up and tried looking online but with this all fairly new to me just wanted to make sure really.

I've read up about the H&R monotubes etc but there seems to be a fair few different coilover options on the market so it might just be a case of checking out the ride heights and feedback of some of the rides on here!

[xjay1337]

Just buy some AP coilovers or Weitecs or something around that price bracket... in all honesty you won't notice anything more on the road or during light track use.  Don't get caught up on brand either... 

I had Whiteline front and rear roll bars on my last car and they were very good, no nonsense and good value. They're of a suitable size as well (a 27 or 28mm bar is too big...) - Again my opinion.


There are kits listed online and there's not really much difference between Powerflex and Superpro it's all much of a muchness.. like Cheddar from Tesco and Cheddar from Sainsburys. All the bushes are sold separately but you can buy them all at once..

[Msportman]

I run both Powerflex and Super Pro on my Golfs.

My set up on my Ed30 is KW Clubsports (These give Camber adjustment) in conjunction with WALK kit. The bushes have been done on the rear and have really tightened the rear end "squirm" when the bushes start to slacken off.

The Superpro are good and are available in different stiffness.....they are more than acceptable for ride quality as are the KW's which are fully adjustable and are excellent quality and have finite adjustment......spring rates are stiffer than V3's but they are not crashy and give a very compliant ride.

The Powerflex on the MK2 are again very good.....the chassis on the MK5 isw much stiffer than the MK2 hence you feel more in the MK2!!

Good luck!!

[vRSAlex]

Just buy some AP coilovers or Weitecs or something around that price bracket... in all honesty you won't notice anything more on the road or during light track use.  Don't get caught up on brand either... 

I had Whiteline front and rear roll bars on my last car and they were very good, no nonsense and good value. They're of a suitable size as well (a 27 or 28mm bar is too big...) - Again my opinion.


There are kits listed online and there's not really much difference between Powerflex and Superpro it's all much of a muchness.. like Cheddar from Tesco and Cheddar from Sainsburys. All the bushes are sold separately but you can buy them all at once..

Disagree with you.

So have you used Bilsteins, H&R's, Ohlins on the road to compare against the likes of AP and weitec? Night and day difference. Ride is smoother, takes up all the little bumps with ease, yet they corner flatter.  I'm in the position that ive used and fitted 90% of coilovers and damper combos on many different cars. The more you spend the better they are.

Superpro vs powerflex vs whiteline.  More like economy cheese vs finest. Superpro will always be the best in terms of fit and quality, powerflex just behind. Whiteline iisn't great imo. Seen too many fail.

You can dramatically improve the ride quality by fitting coilovers and bushes over the standard crashy and wallowing items.

28 front and 24mm rear roll bars are a fantastic combo. Improves the roll and response without compromising the ride.

[Hurdy]

I have Bilstein B16 PSS10's, H&R front and rear ARBs, Full Powerfex bushing front and rear and Whiteline anti-lift kit. The only thing I would change is the Whiteline ALK for the Superpro ALK and front arm replacement combo, but it isn't a bad set-up as it is.

I have used a few different set-ups in the past and driven many different set-ups too and this combo is the best I have used.

This is on my MKVI Golf R, but is not too dissimilar to my old MKV ED30 set-up.

[xjay1337]

Just buy some AP coilovers or Weitecs or something around that price bracket... in all honesty you won't notice anything more on the road or during light track use.  Don't get caught up on brand either...  

I had Whiteline front and rear roll bars on my last car and they were very good, no nonsense and good value. They're of a suitable size as well (a 27 or 28mm bar is too big...) - Again my opinion.


There are kits listed online and there's not really much difference between Powerflex and Superpro it's all much of a muchness.. like Cheddar from Tesco and Cheddar from Sainsburys. All the bushes are sold separately but you can buy them all at once..

Disagree with you.

So have you used Bilsteins, H&R's, Ohlins on the road to compare against the likes of AP and weitec? Night and day difference. Ride is smoother, takes up all the little bumps with ease, yet they corner flatter.  I'm in the position that ive used and fitted 90% of coilovers and damper combos on many different cars. The more you spend the better they are.

Superpro vs powerflex vs whiteline.  More like economy cheese vs finest. Superpro will always be the best in terms of fit and quality, powerflex just behind. Whiteline iisn't great imo. Seen too many fail.

You can dramatically improve the ride quality by fitting coilovers and bushes over the standard crashy and wallowing items.

28 front and 24mm rear roll bars are a fantastic combo. Improves the roll and response without compromising the ride.

We are all able to have our opinions. :)

I've driven on JOMs, FKs, APs and KW V2s and my own air set up.
Air trounces everything even with no front roll bar. With Airlift PERFORMANCE struts and a decent roll bar set up it would be amazing.

However what I will say (and that is my point), the difference between AP and KW V2 was certainly not worth the HUGE price difference. You could powerflex most of the car (including labour) and buy front and rear roll bars for the same amount of money you'd save buying the APs over the V2s.. and Ohlines, they're like £2k? Really???
With no offense or any implications meant, to you it's easy for you to recommend the most expensive coilovers as you sell them.

I think a 28mm front bar is too big to be honest, especially with a 24mm rear. I wouldn't go larger than 24mm on the rear as with a 24mm front and 23mm rear (whiteline so adjusted appropriately) my old TDI became very neutral to oversteery. Any more and the inexperienced will spin the minute they back off the throttle in a fast corner.

I can only speak on personal experience as I've not tried any other bars, but my whiteline ones were great - How can they fail to be honest? Unless they snap.. I am not aware if Whiteline do other bushes but I was referring specifically to their roll bars. I also paid £300 for the pair brand new from my supplier.

[vRSAlex]

If you haven't driven Bilstein, H&R or Ohlins (£2.8k at the min  ) then its very hard to compare.  They kick the pants off KW.

I do indeed sell more the expensive coilovers, but I don't push them on people, and I fit around their budgets.  I do sell the more expensive products because I believe in them, and they have far better longevity and warranties with them.

Check the Whiteline WALK review thread to see failures.  The roll bars have poor quality bushes with them too.  Put H&R/Eibach etc next to Whiteline and the quality between them can easily be seen.

[Tfsi_Mike]

AST's on APRs Golf R demo car felt So comfortable & factory, however the handling was immense.

My bilstein PSS10 both ride And handle much better than my previous KW V3.

It is so, so easy to adjust the billys to the comfiest setting.  Even on half way or more towards hard it is so civilised.  It handled well on the KW's but it was quite harsh & crashy.

I feel I've got an amazing setup.  It's been used on several Trackdays and it handles amazingly!  Yet on the road it's really civilised.

The handling is helped by the SuperPro Balljoints, anti lift & Ground control top mounts.

I would say it's easily achievable to get great handling without comprising comfort.

I'll see if Sy has a minute to comment as he has experienced various setups too & I know he has commented on it before.

[Janner_Sy]

Someone call

I had the APs on mine. Thought they were great in Germany on high quality well maintained roads.  Also thought they were good on track.  BUT within about a month of me returning to the UK I removed them because on our roads the ride was shocking.  I've also been in alot of cars with KW V1/2/3 and weitec and i didn't rate them either for Road use.  I HATED the KWs on mikes car. Best move he ever did was get rid of them!  I vowed never to get coilovers again.

That was until I drove the APR demo Golf R. The ASTs are sublime. The balance of comfort/handling IMO is amazing.  The bilsteins are very nearly the same level as well. They Are The Only two i would consider.  

I'm always intrigued why people buy budget coilovers though.   Why not get a top end spring/damper kit like the Bilstein B12.

[xjay1337]

Because budget coilovers are very nice for the money. I paid £180 for my JOMs and they handled well and rode very nicely too (I did mega miles at the time). Vs spring and damper kit which isn't so "budget" at all... damper and spring kit will be over £400 most of the time.

Plus some people believe that spring based lowering kits are a bit pointless  

If you haven't driven Bilstein, H&R or Ohlins (£2.8k at the min  ) then its very hard to compare.  They kick the pants off KW.

I do indeed sell more the expensive coilovers, but I don't push them on people, and I fit around their budgets.  I do sell the more expensive products because I believe in them, and they have far better longevity and warranties with them.

Check the Whiteline WALK review thread to see failures.  The roll bars have poor quality bushes with them too.  Put H&R/Eibach etc next to Whiteline and the quality between them can easily be seen.

Oh £2.8k how reasonable.   I thought my air setup at £3300 was a bargain... !!  

So £450 vs £2.8k , are the £2.8k ones 5 times better?

Buy the APs and with the change you could powerflex the WHOLE car, fit a NQSBBK, fit whatever roll bars you want, as well as go Stage 2+ (fuel pump and S3 intercooler inclusive) and still have money left over..   Guarantee the APR + other bits car would be more fun to drive and faster round a track, even take away the power upgrades

While no-one is denying the Ohlins aren't better, for road and perhaps occasional light track use the difference (which may be there under full racing circumstances) would become far, far less apparent and ergo are not worth the money.


(not having a dig just engaging in a discussion)

[Janner_Sy]

The amount of people on here who have had multiple sets of coilovers because they bought cheap the first time.  But nice or buy twice.

Any one who puts a £180 coilovers on an expensive high quality hot hatch isn't someone id take advice from!

[Scottymon]

TBF, having read A LOT of forum threads about the JOM's from different countries they get a good response from the majority of people - 2 year warranty inc.